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Earlier this month a study was released on human evolution and the settlement of the Τibetan plateau: Life at high altitudes forced ancient Τibetans to undergo the fastest evolution ever seen in humans, according to a new study. The most rapid genetic change showed up in the EPAS1 gene, which helps regulate the body’s response to a low-oxygen environment. [...] Today is an anniversary of sorts — actually two anniversaries — in the history of violence in China. June 21 marks the 110th anniversary of Empress Dowager’s fateful proclamation giving tacit support to the various groups known as “The Boxers” in their crusade of destruction and righteous anger against all things foreign. It is also the [...] There’s an article today in The Boston Globe on efforts by Chinese agricultural scientists to encourage farmers to plant potatoes as a way to solve a potential crisis in food production for the world’s largest nation. From the Boston Globe: In the land of rice, China is looking at an unlikely tool for maintaining growth and social harmony: [...] If the British takeover of Hong Kong was the moral equivalent of three guys kicking in the back door and at gunpoint turning your suburban home into a crack house, then the Portuguese in Macau were more like a couple of shady dudes who wanted to rent out your old tool shed, hoped you’d forget they were [...] The Onion is running a feature on “The Top Ten Stories of the last 4.5 Billion Years” with important and noteworthy sections entitled “Industrial Revolution Provides Millions of Out-of-Work Children with Jobs” and “Conquerors you may have missed.” Naturally, you can’t have such a comprehensive historical rundown without including China, right? Either Ming Or Yuan Dynasty [...] Last week I was on an extended sojourn to the Russian borderlands of Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang. I’m now back in Beijing and seem to have landed into the middle of a history blackout. I’ve said it before, but nothing makes the CCP look more like a bunch of Kim Jong-il wannabes then when they pull [...] The CCP is going all out this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. The first announcement involved back-to-the-future plans for the largest military parade ever held in the country. Now comes word that China’s film community will celebrate the occasion with an equally grand (though hopefully less Freudian) event of [...] Historian Susan Mann of UC Davis has been awarded this year’s Fairbank Prize for her book The Talented Women of the Zhang Family. (Read a review here.) It’s a brilliant book and the award couldn’t be more deserved. Her previous book Precious Records received the Levenson Prize in 1997. The prize is awarded by the American [...] Via H-Asia: Historical Photographs of China Historical Photographs of China project, School of Humanities, Self-description: It’s such a strange expression — as if History could take sides. A decade ago, President Clinton used these words to scold the Chinese leadership, President Obama used the same phrase last week. There’s a a couple of things that trouble me about the sentiment. For one, it assumes a single track of historical progress. For another [...] Run, do not walk or stop to collect your bling, and read Brendan O’Kane’s vivisection of the recent NYT article “Now Hip-Hop, Too, Is Made in China.” I saw the subject, read Brendan’s title (“[HELP], [HELP], [HELP] THE POLICE!”) and just went and got some popcorn because I knew it was going to be fun ride. [...] I’ll admit it: I can be snarky. Even in class. And one of my favorite pieces of snark for the last eight years or so has been the occasional flippant comparison between the George W. Bush years and the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1722-1796/1799). In his Search for Modern China, the core text for my [...] |
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History museums
Christmas in Montpelier, VT. We’re up here visiting my sister and I have to say…it’s been a nice break from the daily grind of Beijing living. YJ and I are constantly amazed over such commonalities as “pedestrian right of way” and “customer service.”
Having a bit of a break from family to-do’s, we wandered around the downtown [...]